Wimbledon Women's Semifinal Preview: Venus-Konta, Rybarikova-Muguruza

Garbiñe Muguruza [14] vs. Magdalena Rybarikova

“She has really impressed me,” Rybarikova said when she was asked about facing Muguruza in the semis. Rybarikova noted how aggressive Muguruza has been in beating Angelique Kerber and Svetlana Kuznetsova in her last two matches. That’s true, but what may be more troublesome for the Slovakian is how consistently Muguruza has been hitting her targets. The Spaniard is swinging for the fences, but putting the balls in the corners.

Still, Rybarikova also mentioned another, more auspicious fact for her: She won their only meeting on grass. While she has never gone deep at Wimbledon, Rybarikova loves the surface here, and after winning two Challenger events on it last month this stylishly finesse-oriented 28-year-old might feel as if she can’t lose on it, either. Still, logic and history say that on grass, and at the majors, power will ultimately triumph over court craft in a WTA match. Which means that Muguruza should win. But I said the same thing about Rybarikova’s last match, against CoCo Vandeweghe, and we saw how that turned out.

Winner: Muguruza

Steve Tignor stopped by the Tennis Channel set at the All England Club to discuss the late rounds of Wimbledon:

Johanna Konta [6] vs. Venus Williams [10]

The day’s showcase match will feature the hope of a nation versus a five-time champion—it doesn’t get much bigger than that. These two have only been facing each other since 2015, but they already have a history together. Konta has won three times, and Venus twice; three of those five matches have gone the distance. As Konta says, they’ve “had their battles.”

How will this, the most important of their battles so far, turn out? Each will, presumably, be iron-willed: Konta will have the crowd behind her, and Venus will have nine years of waiting to end; the last of her titles on Centre Court—her favorite court—came in 2008, when she was a sprightly 28. Venus wants this trophy more than any other, and she must know that not having her sister here gives her the best chance she might ever have to win it again.

The keys would seem to be the Venus serve and the Konta return. Venus virtually won her quarterfinal with Jelena Ostapenko with that shot alone. Fifty-three percent of her serves were unreturned, while only 20 percent of Ostapenko’s were. This is where the Konta return game comes in. Can she put Venus’ serve back in the court and force her to rally? If she can’t, she’s going to feel the pressure on her own serve all afternoon.

Winner: Williams

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